Irving Crane (November 13, 1913 – November 17, 2001), nicknamed "the Deacon", was an American
pool
Pool may refer to:
Water pool
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings
* Tide pool, a rocky pool ...
player from
Livonia
Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
(near
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
),
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
[Billiard Congress America (1995-2005)]
BCA Hall of Fame Inductees: 1977 - 1984
. Retrieved November 22, 2006. and ranks among the stellar players in the history of the sport.
[OnePocket.org (2004)]
Retrieved November 22, 2006. Considered one of the all-time greats, and a member of the
Billiard Congress of America
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States and Canada, and the regional member organization of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).` Puerto Rico, though a US territory, and Mexico, though ...
Hall of Fame, he is best known for his mastery in the game of
straight pool (14.1 continuous) at which he won numerous championships, including six
World Straight Pool Championship
The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the early 21st century, tournaments like the Amer ...
titles.
Early life
Crane's fascination with billiards started at age 11, sparked by play on a toy pool table his brother received as a Christmas gift. When he showed interest and ability, his father Scott Crane, a trial lawyer and sportsman, and his mother, a high school teacher, soon replaced their dining room table with a 4' by 8'
pool table
A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that i ...
.
He soon ventured out of the home to practice a couple days each week at Olympic Billiards, a room that was part of a bowling alley in Scottsville, a suburb of
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. Crane stated in 1998: "Other kids, you know they'd play for twenty minutes or half an hour and they'd say, 'let's do something else.' I could play all day and never get enough. I couldn't wait to get home from school to play."
Crane's status as a
wunderkind
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
was quickly evident; although he was entirely
self-taught
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...
, at 14 he ran 89 balls in straight pool at a local
pool room, calling each shot in advance, as is mandatory in straight pool. Following this feat, his parents replaced the smaller table with a full size tournament table. Over the next ten years some of the best players of the era, including
Willie Hoppe
William Frederick Hoppe (October 11, 1887 – February 1, 1959) (surname rhymes with "poppy"), was an internationally renowned American professional carom billiards champion, who was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America H ...
and Andrew Ponzi, came to practice with the promising champion.
Despite consistent play throughout his teenage years, Crane did not enter any tournaments until he was 23 years old.
In February 1939, at age 26, Crane 150 balls against his opponent in an exhibition straight pool match on a difficult 5' by 10' table in
Layton, Utah
Layton is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 81,773, with 2022 estimates showing a slight increase to 84,665. Layton ...
. While this was impressive in and of itself, at the crowd's urging, he continued his run, ultimately pocketing 309 consecutive setting a record on a 10ft table.
World titles
This coup was soon followed by his first world title in 1942. Over the following three decades, Crane won almost two dozen major championships, including the
World Straight Pool Championship
The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the early 21st century, tournaments like the Amer ...
in 1942, 1946, 1955, 1968, 1970 and 1972,
the Ballantine International Championship in 1965,
the International Roundrobin championship in 1968,
and the World Series of Pool in 1978.
Of these triumphs, his win at the 1966
U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship The U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship was a pool
Pool may refer to:
Water pool
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a str ...
is one of the most celebrated, him running 150 and out in the finals, never letting his opponent back to the table after an early safety battle; an accomplishment that has never been equalled in the tournament.
Crane also holds the record for the most runner-up finishes at the
World Straight Pool Championship
The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the early 21st century, tournaments like the Amer ...
on 13 occasions.
Despite his mastery and world renown, Crane found it hard to make a living solely playing pool, and in 1957 began working as a
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
salesman at Valley Cadillac Inc. 333 East Avenue in Rochester, New York. He continued there for 17 years. According to Crane's daughter, at Rochester's annual
auto show
An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...
his dealership's exhibit featured a pool table at which Crane would run balls while answering questions.
"Working" for a living was purely a choice of survival. In an interview with ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1969, Crane said, "If I had to make a choice between selling cars and playing pool, I'd choose pool... The only time I've ever been really happy is when I was at a pool table."
Described as a "tall, lean man with the imperial bearing of the headmaster of Eton,"
["50 Greatest Players of the Century", by Kenneth Shouler. ''Billiards Digest'' magazine. October 1999, page 60.] Crane earned the appellation "the Deacon" because of his gentlemanly ways, his very cautious approach to the game
and his impeccable dress, never approaching a pool table except in a conservative suit. ''Los Angeles Times'' sports columnist Jim Murray once said Crane "would make Henry Fonda look furtive."
Highlighting Crane's both cautious approach and mastery,
Mike Sigel
Michael Sigel (born July 11, 1953) is an American professional pool player nicknamed "Captain Hook." He earned the nickname from his ability to hook his opponents with safety plays. Sigel has the ability to shoot pool both left-handed and righ ...
, one of pool's most illustrious players, reportedly asked Crane to play one day when Sigel was a young player. Crane assented and after Sigel broke, Crane ran 200 balls and then played a .
Later life
In an interview with the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Crane's wife of 64 years, Althea, stated, "A lot of people, if it was a hot day and there was no air conditioning, they'd take off their coat to play. But not Irving Crane." Rudolph Wanderone, a/k/a
Minnesota Fats
Minnesota Fats, or George Hegerman, is a fictional pool hustler created by American novelist Walter Tevis. The character appears in Tevis' novel ''The Hustler'' (1959). Jackie Gleason portrayed the character in the 1961 film adaptation of ''The ...
, once opined, "Irv Crane would have been the only guy to notice the horse under Lady Godiva,"
while professional rival
Willie Mosconi
William Joseph Mosconi (; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For mo ...
who had criticized Crane for his cautious style, stated in his 1993 autobiography, ''Willie's Game'', that "Crane wouldn't take a shot unless his grandmother could make it."
Crane was inducted into the
Billiard Congress of America
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States and Canada, and the regional member organization of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).` Puerto Rico, though a US territory, and Mexico, though ...
's hall of fame in 1978.
In 1999, Crane was ranked as number eight on ''Billiard Digest''s fifty greatest players of the century.
[Sun-Times News Group (2006). ''NOTEWORTHY'', ''Chicago Sun-Times'', December 15, 1999, by Elliott Harris.] In his entry there, he is lauded as having been, along with Mosconi, the "best in the world, flat out" between 1941 and 1956.
In 1980, Crane retired from professional play. He stopped playing entirely in about 1996.
On November 17, 2001, at age 88, four days after entering a
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...
, Crane died of natural causes. He was survived by his wife Althea, son Irving, daughter Sandra, three grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
Career Titles
See also
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Irving
American pool players
Sportspeople from Rochester, New York
1913 births
2001 deaths
World champions in pool
People from Livonia, New York